Dark Side of The Ring Bonus: Renegade vs Arn Anderson | Opinion
This week’s Dark Side of The Ring featured the story of Rick Wilson, aka WCW’s Renegade. The character was an Ultimate Warrior clone played by an exotic dancer, who was by most accounts a pretty good guy who just wanted to please.
I’ve been enjoying this season of Dark Side and after each episode I’ve been taking a look at one of the bigger matches of the subject’s career. In this case it’s Wilson’s TV Title match against Arn Anderson at The Great American Bash, June 18th, 1995
Many of the people who spoke about the match (Anderson included) talked about the frustration of working with Wilson, as he was very “green” and didn’t have the in-ring skills to keep up with Anderson. Even though the outcome was positive, the audience tells the real tale of this match that took place in Dayton, Ohio.
WCW World Television Title Match: Arn Anderson (c) vs Renegade
Renegade came down to the ring with the Mouth of The South Jimmy Hart and he really did have that Ultimate Warrior vibe down pat. Anderson entered with the classic “In the heat of the night” style Horsemen music.
The bell rang and they started talking trash to one another, with Anderson slapping Renegade then jumping him from behind. Renegade came back and sent Anderson into the corner, but Anderson reversed it and threw a forearm.
Channelling the Warrior’s no-sell abilities, Renegade came back right away and clotheslined Anderson out of the ring. He leapt to the floor to confront him, but Anderson got back into the ring and called for a DQ. The ref said “nah” and the match continued with a lockup.
Renegade grabbed a headlock while commentary went on about his physique and mysteriousness. Renegade held the headlock for what seemed like a full five minutes before Anderson broke free.
Anderson took a step back and reset himself before locking up again and the Renegade grabbing a headlock, again. This time Anderson shot him off the ropes and put Renegade in an abdominal stretch. Renegade reversed it and stretched Anderson.
Anderson went for a spinning heel kick and Renegade no sold the heck out of it. Anderson left the ring to try and figure Renegade out, slowing down the match pace. He got back into the ring and they locked up again. Anderson pushed Renegade into the corner with his shoulder and Renegade whipped him into the opposite corner.
Anderson came back with a kick and shot Renegade off the ropes so he could get him in a sleeper. Renegade countered it and went for a sleeper, though Bobby Heenan was convinced that it was a choke hold.
Anderson used the ropes to choke Renegade and put him in the corner. Anderson took him down and locked in another sleeper. Renegade reached to the sky while commentary tried to convince us the audience was rallying around Renegade.
Eventually, Renegade got to his feet and broke the hold. He no-sold an Anderson kick, but the crowd exploded when Anderson hit him with the spine buster. There was no reaction when Renegade kicked out.
Renegade hit an Atomic Drop, nailing Arn in both Andersons. Anderson popped back though, sending Renegade sprawling. Anderson went up top, but took too much time and Renegade hit him with a fallaway slam from the turnbuckle. Renegade went up top and splashed Anderson. He made the cover and 1-2-3 Renegade is the new WCW TV Champion!
Match Result: Renegade defeated Arn Anderson (9:07)
After the match, fireworks went off as Renegade and Hart celebrated. Then the yet-to-debut Paul Wight (aka The Giant) was shown in the audience, watching thoughtfully. Renegade celebrated some more while an angry Giant watched.
Final Thoughts
Honestly, that wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. It was a very “Thunder” match and certainly didn’t need to be on a Pay Per View. Anderson was clearly frustrated with Renegade’s lack of skill in the ring, but the match wasn’t overly long and it didn’t look like Renegade won by accident.
The audience however, was sending a clear message to WCW that they weren’t behind the Renegade. The biggest cheers came when he, the babyface, was hit with a heelish spine buster from Anderson. Aside from that, there was little reaction and even when Renegade won, the crowd politely clapped and silently asked “what’s next?”
It’s easy to say in hindsight, but if WCW had worked harder with Rick Wilson to improve his in-ring skills I think they could have had something there. But as with a lot of WCW “big ideas” Renegade started out burning bright, but quickly faded away as well. I don’t think anyone actively wanted Wilson to fail, but they certainly didn’t do much to help him succeed.
Jeff Moss is a writer, creator and developer in animation, comics and pretty much anything else he can get his mitts on. Pro Wrestling has always been his passion for reasons even he doesn't understand.